TOPS DART vs TOPS Tom Brown Tracker 1 Chopping Test

Hi all,

I just spent some time reading the last few posts and then decided to look up the specs of the blades in question.
the tops dart has a 7" long blade and is 3/16" thickness.
The tracker knife being used has a OAL blade lenght of 5.5" long.

Take a different 7" long some what in comparestion to the dart knife and then do your chop off.

Or take another knife with a 5.5" long blade and compare it to the trackers knife and have a chop off.
Comparing the dart to the tracker is mute point now that I have looked at the specs of both.
They are not even made of the same thicknesses. the dart it 3/16" and the tracker is 1/4"

If I am going to compare knives of the same likeness like in the pic below.
The top 2 knives would be it
IMG_1342-1.jpg


Not like in this pic the different blade lengths knives.

IMG_1344.jpg


If we are going to compare apples to apples great. I just do not see compring apples to oranges.

That is my thoughts guys.


so anyways,
Matt, A regrind is $10 and then the shipping back to you which will be about $12.35 using a box from the post office to ship your tracker back to you. So you would be in the range of$23 roughly.

You also said you might beinterested in getting another tracker knife to then have it sent to me to do a regrind.
Just a thought for ya here, Tops sells there for almost $300. maybe you should think about a getting a custom one built for ya that cost $100 less and get it with the REAL staggard tooth design like Dave Beck did with his, Not that crappy saw that comes with the tops version. You can get different handle,liner and kydex sheath colors too. have you ever held a tracker knife version with palm swells in the handle? Let me tell ya that is a awesome option.

Wow, t1mpani that is pretty cool you got to see all them makers different versions of there tracker versions.

Bill our fellow forum member hawkeye5 was kind enough to send me some Texas mesquit. You are right there that is some tough wood. Not sure, if even , I could get to to like the tracker versions I make lol. I am willing to try though.

If some one cannot make a great fuzz stick with a properly sharpened tracker knife give up, go home, and do not touch any wood please. that will leave that much more for me to this with.
Just click on the pic and the video will play.:D:D




Bryan
 
Bryan, hey.............................I had a question for you but I was reluctant to ask it. With what you've posted above I can't resist now. I was going to ask you whether you would happily dump your primary carry [Warthorn?] in favour of a Tracker shape. I was hesitant to ask because I couldn't think of a name for one of your others that was a bit more choppy and the Warthorn strikes me as a bit combat / utility, but I figured you'd probably grind fairly similarly. With your apples to apples thing on size, thickness and weight in mind, would you find any advantage in the Tracker that would make you permanently give up on something more conventional you would make for yourself?
 
sicily02 said:
If some one cannot make a great fuzz stick with a properly sharpened tracker knife give up, go home, and do not touch any wood please. that will leave that much more for me to this with.
Just click on the pic and the video will play.:D:D
Click to expand...

I can take a tree down with a Mora, and make a great baby with an ugly girl, however neither of these facts point to the desirability of the objects employed within the given situations. ;) There is a great video on Youtube of a guy doing exceptional food-prep work with a HI khukuri, dicing vegetables and filleting a fish (the video is SLIGHTLY sped up but the control he has is obvious)--this does point to his skill, precisely because a recurved, long, heavy, hugely thick blade is a terrible choice for the application. I'm sure I could send him a properly sharpened TOPS Tracker and he could impress us all making little stuffed shrimp, but that isn't reason for people to stop using their Shuns.

Don't get me wrong, much like my Dad's glorious old Mach 1 Mustang, I love the WSK just because it's so danged cool and stands out from the crowd. Similarly, however, compared to what else is out there, I can't honestly recommend either to people as pinnacles of performance. If you have a WSK in a survival situation, and you have the skills you need, you have a good chance of survival. If you spend an hour looking for a sharp-enough rock in a survival situation, and have the skills you need, you have a good chance of survival.

It is true that comparing the chopping abilities of knives of vastly different lengths is unfair. Keep in mind, however, how much a tracker/WSK weighs despite its short length. It is also, therefore, unfair to compare a Tracker to--say--a Camp Tramp from Swamp Rat, because there is so much more mass in the former because of the hugely wide blade--especially when limbing versus chopping larger wood, as the WSK's weight will often allow it to just break branches off with momentum. The fair comparison would be to one of the several "outdoor cleavers" that many on these boards offer, and as it happens, I just so happen to own one with right around a seven inch blade. Maybe I'll dig out the ol' Beck again and head up to the woods for a little run off between them, assuming I can ever get an actual day containing free time. This comparison would actually be interesting because you're comparing two tools that will pack in the same amount of space, and weigh the same amount on your belt.
 
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t1mpani said:
Agreed with above---I have a fascination with this blade style (in so much as it's an interesting blip in the history of knife design) and own the Beck, Linger, Koster, Horan, and Martin versions, as well as having owned both the TOPS and RS6 versions before selling them off (the last two are indeed not on par with the others, though of course they cost far less), and it really achieves nothing special, cool and unique though it is. A far, FAR better configuration for a similar concept would be to skip the transition in blade height from one grind to the other (which means that the sweet spot for chopping would no longer be focused on a narrow little point) and just have the thickness of the knife increase dramatically toward the point, like Farid does with his choppers:
https://www.google.com/search?q=far...ms%2Fshowthread.php%2F958640-chopper;1024;768
This achieves the aim of forward balance far better, in that it does not interrupt the continuous cutting edge with a shelf, allowing the whole length of the knife to be used for scraping/planing, etc.; though it requires a truly massive amount of steel removal.

I managed to buy a Beck before the huge craze for them began (I didn't pay thousands of dollars) and as much as I do like it for what it is, it is a compromise. It sorta chops okay, can sorta skin (yes, I've tried it), can sorta make fuzz sticks, the hook works pretty well for rounding and the notching saw notches just fine. However, compared to something like a Siegle Hoodlum paired with a SAK, the WSK just gets left in the dust. Even without the SAK, I think I'd rather have the less complicated blade shape if I were actually "surviving" versus just screwing around in the woods.

The one thing I will say for--especially-- the Beck version is that the ergonomics for a chopping blade are absolutely phenomenal; incredibly comfortable in just about any position. If I could put that grip on a wide, leaf-shaped blade with a full flat grind, I'd have my perfect outdoor knife.
Click to expand...
This old Beck may fit your bill:
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e219/spiritbow/Knives/Pathfinderset.jpg
Dave Beck now offers his Bush Pilot 3 as a close copy to his old Pathfinder.
 
I've seen that! Still, doesn't have that great WSK handle though. I may see if I can talk him into a hybrid...
 
Hi all,

Baldtaco, Hell no/yes, for a quick answer I will combine them ( tracker design and Warthorn) Plus a little
different staggered tooth design that I am working on this week.
That is getting off topic, PM or e-mail me and I will be glad to chat with you about it.


t1mpani, If all it will take for you to have your perfect knife is th have the Beck tracker handle on
a blade design of your choice. Contact me I would love to chat with you about it.

As to your reply, I hear what you are saying.
all though I wish you had not said making a baby witha ugly girl lol YUCK lol lol.
I love the tracker look too. I know the design is not what every one wants and that is ok.
Again the tracker design has a edge, it just so happens, that a hook has been ground in on the
edge.

That is it folks,

it still cuts and chops and slices and unlike a straight edge that ground in
hook part really makes some great looking spiral curls:D

Anyways all, chat with you later,

Bryan
 
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As to the baby part...well, "yuck" was the feeling I was trying to inspire. :D

Tell you what, I'll get some drawing done before long and drop you a line about it--I've actually thought about it long enough that I have a pretty clear idea what I'd like, it's just getting it on paper. :)
 
Cool, I look forward to seeing what you come up with for your knife pattern.
Maybe that will be a good knife to try against the DART knife.
Take care all,

Bryan
 
Well, here it is--just a very basic layout, but I hope it's clear enough. The second picture is the same thing, just a little closer to make the writing easier to read. Continuous-edge leaf-shaped WSK with a high-flat saber behind, low convex saber out front, squared edged at the spine where the thumb can rest (and sparks made for fires) but round after the transition point for batoning, culminating in a centered spear point. So, whatcha think? :)



And since I pulled out my WSK inventory to show somebody who asked, let me point out the Horan version because it actually has the most dramatic difference between the front and rear grinds, giving a MUCH thinner cross-section in the back "carving" section than out front where the chopping is supposed to happen. Of course, this one goes from hollow to convex, where I think high-flat to convex is plenty, but the point is you don't just have two bevels that are exactly the same height/angle.

 
t1mpani said:
Well, here it is--just a very basic layout, but I hope it's clear enough. The second picture is the same thing, just a little closer to make the writing easier to read. Continuous-edge leaf-shaped WSK with a high-flat saber behind, low convex saber out front, squared edged at the spine where the thumb can rest (and sparks made for fires) but round after the transition point for batoning, culminating in a centered spear point. So, whatcha think? :)



And since I pulled out my WSK inventory to show somebody who asked, let me point out the Horan version because it actually has the most dramatic difference between the front and rear grinds, giving a MUCH thinner cross-section in the back "carving" section than out front where the chopping is supposed to happen. Of course, this one goes from hollow to convex, where I think high-flat to convex is plenty, but the point is you don't just have two bevels that are exactly the same height/angle.

Click to expand...

I LOVE your design

Looking forward to seeing it being made
 
t1mpani, That design looks like it will work great. I but that one could give the DART knife a run for the money lol.

One question though. Where are going to put the saw teeth at lol lol. Just kidding.

Chat with you all later,

Bryan
 
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